Having gone to see this with Spud, I find that it's one of those movies that sneaks in subtlety underneath the blatant message that it's trying to tell.
As best I can tell, that message is "You have the freedom to choose. So what do you choose?"
So, overly long spoiler-laden analysis under the cut:
The opening establishes the major point: Baby Doll is going to be lobotomized in five days. And just as we see her about to be, it jumps from Stage 1 (reality/the institution) to Stage 2 (The brothel/dance club). Here we see Baby Doll put together her plan to escape and rally her allies to help her do so. At no point do we go back to Stage 1 until the ending where Baby Doll is lobotomized and Sweet Pea escapes. Over the course of the movie, we see characters die, presumably, but in Stage 1, there's no reference to Blue (the slimy main antagonist) killing anyone, and three patients being killed would have raised a lot of noise, rather than his just being arrested for trying to rape Baby Doll post-lobotomy, which Dr. Gorski only knows to think about when she realizes he forged her signature to authorize the lobotomy. Therefore, Stage 2 is suspect as a hallucination. Also, Baby Doll sees all the items she needs to escape in the intro, before she's told by the Wiseman that she needs them. So, presumably, the plan is already in place. Therefore, my theory is that the entire film is basically Baby Doll's subconscious over the course of the days between her admittal and her lobotomy, working up the courage to choose to do what she can: get Sweet Pea out of the asylum. Her step-father's already institutionalized her, her mother and sister are dead. She has no life to go back to. Sweet Pea does. By providing the 5th item, a sacrifice, she can exchange her life that's about to end for Sweet Pea's which is about to begin again. And in the process, she also causes the downfall of the system that made this entire thing possible, including her step-father, who Blue starts trying to sell out at the end as he's dragged away. Thus, essentially, Baby Doll could either accept what the others were doing to her, or embrace the fact that, with nothing left to lose, she's free (there's that word again) to do what she wants with her last days. The Wiseman said that her quest will "set her free", not that it will help her escape. And given the opening narration about "guardian angels can take many forms", it's entirely possible that this is referring to Baby Doll being Sweet Pea's guardian angel, as she's a Decoy Protagonist.
tl;dr edition:
This movie isn't going to be for everyone. It's a LOT more complex than the trailer makes it look, and it's not a pure-cut happy ending. But the work IS good, so I suppose it's a question of what you get out of it.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
As best I can tell, that message is "You have the freedom to choose. So what do you choose?"
So, overly long spoiler-laden analysis under the cut:
The opening establishes the major point: Baby Doll is going to be lobotomized in five days. And just as we see her about to be, it jumps from Stage 1 (reality/the institution) to Stage 2 (The brothel/dance club). Here we see Baby Doll put together her plan to escape and rally her allies to help her do so. At no point do we go back to Stage 1 until the ending where Baby Doll is lobotomized and Sweet Pea escapes. Over the course of the movie, we see characters die, presumably, but in Stage 1, there's no reference to Blue (the slimy main antagonist) killing anyone, and three patients being killed would have raised a lot of noise, rather than his just being arrested for trying to rape Baby Doll post-lobotomy, which Dr. Gorski only knows to think about when she realizes he forged her signature to authorize the lobotomy. Therefore, Stage 2 is suspect as a hallucination. Also, Baby Doll sees all the items she needs to escape in the intro, before she's told by the Wiseman that she needs them. So, presumably, the plan is already in place. Therefore, my theory is that the entire film is basically Baby Doll's subconscious over the course of the days between her admittal and her lobotomy, working up the courage to choose to do what she can: get Sweet Pea out of the asylum. Her step-father's already institutionalized her, her mother and sister are dead. She has no life to go back to. Sweet Pea does. By providing the 5th item, a sacrifice, she can exchange her life that's about to end for Sweet Pea's which is about to begin again. And in the process, she also causes the downfall of the system that made this entire thing possible, including her step-father, who Blue starts trying to sell out at the end as he's dragged away. Thus, essentially, Baby Doll could either accept what the others were doing to her, or embrace the fact that, with nothing left to lose, she's free (there's that word again) to do what she wants with her last days. The Wiseman said that her quest will "set her free", not that it will help her escape. And given the opening narration about "guardian angels can take many forms", it's entirely possible that this is referring to Baby Doll being Sweet Pea's guardian angel, as she's a Decoy Protagonist.
tl;dr edition:
This movie isn't going to be for everyone. It's a LOT more complex than the trailer makes it look, and it's not a pure-cut happy ending. But the work IS good, so I suppose it's a question of what you get out of it.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."